Holocaust survivor’s poetry
Anna Sput-Stern has spent years writing poetry. Recently, a number of them were published in a book titled, As it Was.
Meeting Anna Sput-Stern in her home over lunch is a delight. At 103, Anna lives mostly independently surrounded by pictures from her great-grandchildren, and after she finished her Zoom exercises, we discuss her passion – writing.
For Anna, her most recent publication, a collection of poems written over her life, titled As it Was, is a dream come true.
“I dreamt about it, thinking it would never happen,” she said.
It was the idea of her publisher Green Olive Press, who after reading Anna’s poems, asked for more and published them as a collection.
In an extract from Listen to their Voices, she writes:
Listen to their voices,
Hear what they say.
Perhaps there isn’t going to be
Another chance to listen to them.
They speak from experience
From an old age. They are survivors
Of many years of suffering.
You could learn a lot from them.
If only you heed the message
Coming from their parched lips.
If only you could feel their pain
As if it were your own.
If only you would stop to think
And try to prevent the world
from repeating the crime
against its humankind.
Her poetry reflects on loss after the Holocaust, on the difficulties of living under the Soviet Union and on new life in Australia.
Anna has published other books including The Clan, A New Identity and On the Other Side of the River which is a collection of stories divided into two sections – her experiences during WWII, and post-war life in Australia.
When Poland was invaded by the Nazis in 1939, Anna was living in Warsaw with her parents. At that time, Warsaw and western Poland were under Nazi occupation, while eastern Poland was under Soviet control.
In October 1939, encouraged by her parents, Anna fled to the Soviet side with her boyfriend (who would become her husband), and his parents.
Anna never saw her parents again, they perished in the Holocaust.
Living under the Soviet Union she faced many hardships and was sent to a labour camp in Siberia for around two years.
“A lot of people suffered. I had a baby, and I lost that baby from hunger,” Anna shared with sorrow.
After two years Anna and her husband were permitted to move to Kyrgyzstan where she studied bacteriology and worked in a hospital.
In 1948, Anna moved to Australia with her husband Henek (Henry) and daughter Ruth, where Anna had another child Michael, and became focused on raising a family and writing literature. Today she has five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Asked what her key message is to the world, Anna said, “Tolerate each other and learn to live in peace.”
In the foreword to As it Was, Sara Barzel writes, “In an era where the echoes of history can fade, her poetry urges us to listen, to reflect and to advocate for a world rooted in empathy and understanding. A remarkable woman who had led an extraordinary life.”
To purchase As it Was, visit greenolivepress.com/book/as-it-was-poems-by-anna-sput-stern
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